For the first time a person has
committed assisted suicide in Lombardy after a 50-year-old woman
who had suffered from progressive multiple sclerosis for more
than 30 years died in her home in the northern region following
the self-administration of a lethal drug provided by the
National Health Service, the right-to-die Luca Coscioni
Association said Friday.
It is the sixth case in Italy.
The Luca Coscioni Association said the local health authority
provided the drug and the necessary equipment for the procedure
nine months after it was requested, amid reluctance from the
regional government to give the green light.
"The Lombardy Region provided the medical aid for voluntary
death because it was its duty to do so," said Filomena Gallo and
Marco Cappato, respectively the national secretary and treasurer
of the Luca Coscioni Association.
"This confirms what we had also said when regional council
irresponsibly declared itself incompetent in the matter".
Tuscany on Tuesday became the first Italian region to approve a
law granting access to assisted suicide amid a legislative
vacuum at the national level.
In 2009 the Constitutional Court said assisted suicide is
permissible in Italy in some circumstances in its 'Cappato
ruling', named after Marco Cappato.
The requirements outlined in the 2019 sentence included the
presence of an irreversible pathology, unbearable physical or
psychological suffering and the patient's reliance on treatments
of vital support, among others.
The court also called on parliament to pass legislation dealing
with end-of-life issues, something that it has failed to do so
far.
The parties on the right of Italy's political spectrum are
opposed to moves to make assisted suicide easier.
Olimpia Tarzia, the national head of the Bioethics and Human
Rights department of the centre-right Forza Italia, said Friday
that a national law on this issue "is not needed".
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